IL: 10th Annual ASSEMBLY Show Attracts Thousands for Product Sourcing, Education, Networking

The 10th Anniversary of The ASSEMBLY Show provided manufacturing professionals with everything needed to adapt to new challenges, expand into new markets, and streamline their business for growth. The trade show and conference held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center earlier this week offered thousands of manufacturing professionals’ access to automation, robotics, software, vision and sensors, ergonomics, and design throughout a robust show floor which offered products and solutions from 230 exhibiting companies. Photos of The ASSEMBLY Show are available at this link.

“Assembly technology is changing at an incredible pace, and we are thrilled that for the last decade we have been able to create a vibrant event for our attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, and speakers to come together to provide valuable information on the latest industry trends and fresh insights on how to improve processes and the bottom line,” said Bill DeYoe, Publisher, ASSEMBLY Magazine, producers of the event. “Our attendance was up 25% since our last event, and we heard positive feedback on the quality of the attendees who took advantage of our expanded show floor and education program.”

Highlights of the event included:

• The exhibit hall floor had 230 exhibitors, including Gold Sponsor PROMESS; Silver Sponsors ASG, Kinexon and Rexroth a Bosch Company; and Bronze Sponsors Cardinal Kinetic, Schmidt Technology, and Telsonic Ultrasonics as well as dozens of charter exhibitors who have been part of the show since its inception in 2013. Numerous 2022 show exhibitors renewed their booth space on-site for the 2023 Show, which is now over 71% sold. Next year’s Show is scheduled for October 24-26, 2023 back at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL.
• On Thursday morning, the New Products Award winners were announced. The program featured 20 new products which were selected by the editors of ASSEMBLY Magazine. Attendees voted and during the Morning Mingle Breakfast on the show floor the following companies were announced the winners in each of five categories:
• Assembly Machines & System - The winner was LaunchPad for their DigiTool, a self-programming automation for assembly. www.launchpad.build
•  Adhesives. Dispensing & Curing - The winner was Delo for their DELO-Activis 600 process which combines dispensing and preactivation with UV Light. www.delo-adhesives.com/us
• Fastening Tools - The winner was Panasonic Assembly Tools for the AccuPulse 4.0 cordless transducerized pulse tool. www.na.panasonic.com/us/assemblytools
• Robotics -The winner was Fanuc for their CR-35iB high-payload Cobot. www.fanucamerica.com.
• Factory of the Future - The winner was LightGuide for the smartAR augmented reality workstation. www.lightguidesys.com
• Charles Wetherington, President and COO, BTE Technologies presented a thought provoking and engaging keynote address on using lean to prepare for Manufacturing 4.0. Prior to the keynote address Brose received the ASSEMBLY Magazine Plant of the Year Award for their innovative employee engagement programs and process control systems at their Tuscaloosa Plant. 
• The event kicked off with six workshops that attracted hundreds of attendees. Industry experts led panel discussions on Metal Welding for Battery Packs, Lean Manufacturing – The Culture of Kaizen, Thriving with Manufacturers’ Reps, Fundamental of Plastics Welding, Electronic & Autonomous Vehicles, and How to Develop the Next-Generation Manufacturing Workforce.
• Editors from ASSEMBLY Magazine led dozens of attendees on six guided exhibit hall tours. Austin Weber, Senior Editor led the Autonomous & Electric Mobility and Factory of the Future tours; John Sprovieri, Editor in Chief led the Robotics and Automated Assembly Tours; and Jennifer Pierce, Multimedia Editor led the Pressing & Riveting and Fastening Tools Tours.
• Over a dozen exhibitors demonstrated their company's expertise related to the latest technological advances in assembly in Learning Theaters in the Exhibit Hall.  Subject matter experts shared their knowledge on such topics as automation in today’s new normal, labor shortages and turnover, laser plastic welding, process control, torque verification process, leak testing, automaton and augmentation, AI in the automotive industry, robotic assembly and more.
• Attendees and exhibitors enjoyed two networking receptions including the Opening Night Welcome Reception where local restaurants offered food and drink for The Taste of Rosemont Event. On Wednesday evening The ASSEMBLY Show attendees networked at the Harvest Hoedown complete with BBQ, craft beer and a country band sponsored by ASG.
• On Thursday morning the event kicked off with the Morning Mingle & Breakfast, sponsored by Kinexon. This function gave attendees a final opportunity to network over some coffee and danish before the New Products Awards presentation.
• During the Opening Night Reception high school students from FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Illinois Robotics programs demonstrated the robots they have built which use technology that is applicable for assembly manufacturing.

 
“We look forward to bringing the assembly community together twice next year. We will be launching The ASSEMBLY Show South, April 4-6 in Nashville, TN and will return to Rosemont for our 11th anniversary event from October 24-26, 2023,” added Bill DeYoe.
 
The ASSEMBLY Show is sponsored by ASSEMBLY (www.assemblymag.com) the leading brand covering the processes, technologies, and strategies for assembling discrete parts into finished products. ASSEMBLY offers an integrated portfolio of products including the industry’s leading trade show. The trade show and conference are produced by BNP Media, one of the country's leading business-to-business media companies serving industry professionals across 60+ industries through magazines, custom media, e-newsletters, webinars, events, and market research. For more information, visit www.bnpmedia.com.